March 1, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

Doom metal is good. Sludge metal is good. Sludge/doom can only be really good…if done with care and talent, of course.

Los Angeles natives Black Cobra offer up its third full-length release of adrenaline-pumping sludge metal that is about as subtle as a tow truck chain dropping onto your chest as you sleep. The “C” and “D” drop-tune is usually done to death by bands that are under the foolish impression that if you drop the tuning you automatically become heavier and more talented all in a few knob turns.

Doesn’t happen.

Black Cobra, however, manages to convey a thicker St. Vitus sound that has some damn good elements of a slower punk vibe and doesn’t need a myriad of bodies thrashing about aimlessly, plowing into one another at random speeds, or vocals that are unintelligible or boring. There is always something to be said for H-E-A-V-Y metal, and Chronomega has the tenacity to make one’s head slam off the nearest solid object without resorting to mindless brutality.  I like an album that offers a solid listening experience and doesn’t placate the fan with overused or overhyped tricks to get your attention.

The main complaint with a lot of sludge bands that I’ve heard is that most of the songs seem to run together, meshing too well for any decipherability to come into play. While I agree on that point, the trained ear, be it of a musician or a stringent fan, can certainly be able to pick apart good music and bad music (or at least I’d hope they could). There is good music contained in the Black Cobra legacy and Chronomega is worth hearing. There is nothing new that will shake the very foundations of metal music, but there is a good time here listening to music that can move some part of your anatomy, be it nodding unknowingly with the drum line or a simply having an accelerated heartbeat as you take the forty-minute trip into the band’s musical mind. “Lightning in His Hand” is a heavy-handed track that seems somewhat reminiscent of a speedier Trouble in its heyday. In fact, a bill of Trouble, Slough Feg and Black Cobra would be one hell of a show! Other standouts include “Chronosphere” and “Storm Shadow.”

The band offers nothing but honest, stripped-down sludge that can be enjoyed by the fan of said genre, as well as the Sabbath/Trouble/Electric Wizard contingency if they are so inclined to try. While not quite of the Electric Wizard or Trouble stature, Black Cobra fuses good old-fashioned sludge/doom with a punk sensibility that can only be good or bad, black or white, open or closed. There is usually no in-between with certain genres or bands, like Venom or Motorhead; you either get them or you don’t. There is no real right or wrong answer; it comes down to taste and affinity for a certain type of music. Sludge is just that genre because the fans are far more attuned to what is good and what isn’t good.  

This one is good. Give it a try and see.

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Label: Southern Lord Records

TRACK LISTING

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Black Cobra - Chronomega

1.  Negative Reversal
2.  Machine
3.  Catalyst
4.  Chronosphere
5.  Zero Point Field
6.  Lightning In His Hand
7.  Storm Shadow
8.  Glacies En Spiritu
9.  Nefarian Triangle

Total playing time:  38:07